Wave-motor.



' N. 0. HARMON.

WAVE MOTOR. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 7, 1909.

N. 0. HARMON. WAVE MOTOR.

` l APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 7, 1909.

Patented Sept.*13, 1910 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

N. 0. HARMON. WAVE MOTOR.

APPLICATION IILED SEPT. 7, 1909.

Patented sept. 13,1910.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

y 'vented 'new and v'useful ',.UNrTED STATES llPArENT OFFICE..

NATHANIELQHARMON, orLos ANGEIES, CALIFORNIA,

WAVE-Moron..

Application filed September 7, 1909. Serial 110.516,564.

vice which will utilize the wave power no -matter .in what direction the waves maybe rollmg.; I accomplish' this objectl by the mechamsm described herein and illustrated in the laccompanyingdrawingsnin which; 4

y tor, With f slde elevation Figure lis a-plan of.aone unit wave moparts removed forl clearness of illustration, lever is used to'operate pumps. Fig. 2 isa leverand the pumps. Fig. 3 is a plan of the `)arts shown -n Fig..2wwith parts in section.

' float.

shown in Fig. 135

ig. 4 is a "top plan 'of the lmpact member' with the power. ever inv section. Fig. 5 is a side elevation 'partly insectio of the upper end 'of the power lever,. andl theadjaeent parts. Fig. '(5 is a' fragmentaryenlarg'ed detail of the lower end of the power lever and Fig. V is an enlarged detail vof the lower end of the pump' operating rods and adjacent part. l

Y 7 taken on a plane at rlght angles to the plane of Fig. 7 with one of the i, guide plates removed.

y Fig. 5, Vis a hollow shaft 12, which i's revolu inthe drawings l0 is awharf structureof any approved `construction ywhich is. placed .far 4enough from the shore to -bevin the-active zone of the highest wave motion. 'This wharf structure is placed so that the wave usually will )ass transversely below.

the ,upper portion of the wharfstructure toward the shore. y

Mounted in bearings 11 best shown in ble in'said bearings. Rigidly"securedy'upon said shaft is the power lever hanger 13,

l which is preferably V-shapcd, and vhas a central stitl'ening rib 13a,`the upper endof which passes around shaft 12. The lower end of 'this hanger is bifurcated as bestl shown in Fig. 2, and in the furcations thereo'f is mounted power vlever 14, by'means. of f bolt 15 which. passes throughthe lower end of the hanger.andthrough the lever, there,A

:county of of ywhich the following is a4 in which the power froml the' partly in section of the'power.

Fig. Slis; a view `of the )artv S'peclcation otvLe'ttei-s ftent. 'Patented Sept. 13; r1910.

by pivotally mounting the power lever in the hanger'so that the upper, end of the lever may swmg'transversely 1n the, hanger. On'

the lower' end ofthe power lever is mounted the impact' member ltwhich is preferably j composed of the buoyant body I174 provide Iwith wings '18, which are evenly' s aced 'around the body,

and is preferably slidable on the levelI as thereby a shorter impact member maybe used than if it isfnot slidable.l YIf not slidable, the body need not `be buoyant. 'In the drawings I ave shown' 6 of these wingsasy I have found 1in" practice that number of wings produces satisfactory results, but there 'may be a 'greaterfor less numberas'de'sired. The outer' ends of. the

'wingsare preferably connected bystay rods 19, as best shown inlig. 4:.` The float has a 'longitudinal central aperture 20, through `.which the power lever extends, the lower endofthe power lever t'erminatcsmwhat maybe termed a shock preventr whenthe wavemotion is so` reat as `to leavethe floatin the air abovet e waterfbetween waves. The shock preventer is composed of ,a tube or pipe 21, which is screwed into a.- socketrin the lower end of the power lever, as best" illustrated in Fig. .2.. `In this tube is mounted a rod 22 (see Fig. 6) which fis-provided with a head 23. lhis rod passes tlnough a stutliig box 24 in the lower end of-th'e 'tube, and exterorly. the tube is provided a nut 25 which projects far enougli beyondl the side ofthe tube lto engage the ottom of the float and prevent it 'coming off the power v lever. On this rod between the head and the stuffing box is' a -s rin 26, which' will be.

compressed when tie. oat slides down on the power lever sufficiently to engagenut 25. By thisconstruction shock is prevented when the float reaches the end of the power lever.

The cxtreme upper feud of the power lever is reduced ,iu size as. shown at 27,-in Fig. 5. vThis reduced end asses through a slot 428 in the under side o shaft 12. Just below-the reduced ortion the provided witha; ro ler 29 whic engages the sides of the hanger when the leveris oscil-4 ower lever .is

lated on its pivot. When ina position of 'rest,which1 lis the `position illustrated in Fig.-

5, the reduccdend of the power lever passes throughcage 30, which cage carries dogs 31 and which areypivotally connected to said cage'and lie on either side of the end of the power lever. Connected to and'extending from the ends of cage 30 are the piston stems stems are con- 33 and 34.` These piston one of which 35 lever hanger will preferably be constructed y lars and collars tion shown in the drawings and from cast metal and that the guide bar 36 may be cast integral therewith, thereby forming guide ways 37, in which rollers 38 and 39 travel. These rollers are mounted upon shaft 40 which passes through slots 41' in the end ofthe locking bars 42. These locking bars pass through bearings 43, which are secured centrally upon connecting rod 4-4 and through bearings 45 secured u on the cross head 46. Vhere theseA ro s ass through bearings 43, they are enlarge as best shown in Fig. 2. On each sideo the enlarged portion lare loosely mounted collars 47 and adjacent to said collars are coil springs 48 which lie between the loose col- 49 which are secured to the locking bars. These fixed collars and springs retain the locking bars normally in the posithe loose col- -lars permit the bars to move longitudinally `f as hereafter explained. Shaft 40 also passes through the end of the connecting rod which is provided with a slot like the slot in the ends of the locking bars. The other end of the connecting rod is pivotallyy connected to cross head 46. This cross head is slidably connected upon ouide rods 50, which are secured at one en to the casing of pump 5 1, and at the other end to brace bars 52. Piston stem 53 is secured to the cross head at one end and at tlie other end lto the piston 54 of pump 51. Pumps 35 and 51 have their suction ports connected to a common suction pipe 55, and .their discharge ports to a comy mon discharge pipe 56, which discharge pipe is. connected to the 4 pressure equalizing tanky 57. This tank is connected by pipe 58 to a nozzle, which delivers water'upon the water wheel 59. VPipe 60 is connected to the bottom of the equalizing tank and leads to the elevated reservoir 61, in which surplus water is stored` during the periods ofthe maximum movement of the waves. y

Secured to the outer ends of the locking bars are outwardly projecting arms 62, best shown in Fig. 8. These arms carry locking lugs 63, whichk under normal conditions lie beneath coacting locking lugs 64, ,which are carried byarms which last arms are secured to the lower end of the power lever hanger, as' sho'wn in Fig. 7. The locking lugs of the locking bars nori'nally lie beneath It will be understood that the power` erably triangular in the 'locking lugs carried by the power vlever hanger, thereby preventing the locking bars and connecting rod from moving upwardly in the guide ways upon the oscillation of th power lever hanger.

ln the operation of my device as the waves roll 'in toward the shore, they carry the iinpact member, or float along .with them until the wave passes out fron`I under the float, when the power lever will "swing back, until the float is engaged by the next wave. i

the movement of the waves is in a direct line toward the shore, pump 51 will be Operated as the power lever swings iorward and back upon the line passing throughl said pump longitudinally.' Should the action of the waves be quartering, he power lever will not swing in a direct line toward the pump 51, but willswing on a line at an anigl thereto. This movement, however,will.,oscillate the power lever hanger and thereby operate pump v51. At the saine time thepower lever will also oscillate on its `pivotal bolt 15, thereby operating pump 35. wave movement be on a line at right angles to the first course described, the only movenient oli the power lever would be on its pivot which would only operate pump 35. It will seldom happen that the waveslwill run on'a direct line'toward the shore, and for that`A reason l have provided two sets of Should the ety pumps which will be operated as before described.

To prevent inyuiyto the pumping mechanism in case the waves-run very high, I

have mounted upon 'the guide rods 50 ady justable stop lugs 66, fwhich are engaged byv the ends ofthe locking bars when the -power lever swings towapr ther pumps,

and to permit the outer end o f the connecting rod and the locking bars to rise in the guide way. When the power lever swings in the reverse direction beyond its normal movement, adjustable stop lugs 67 engage brace bar 52 and withdraw lugs 63 from beneath lugs 64 so that the outer ends of the in the guide ways. Lugs 63 and 64 are prefshape in cross section which causes lugs 63 'topass from beneath lugs 64 iiol connecting rod and locking bars may rise y so that vthey will slip past each other easily when the power lever swings back toward the normal position. Dogs 31 and 32 permit the upper end of the power lever to disengage from the cage as soon as themaximuin travel of the cage and connected pistons has been reached, It will he observed ,that by this construction the water is forced by the pumps into the pressure equalizing tank.

During periods of the maximum movement of the waves a greater amount of water is umped than can be utilized upon the water wheel. The surplus water is pipe -60 into the elevated reservoir, an'd during periods of minimum wave movement 0I',

forced through placed upon tllie pumps and the equalizin tank. As all of @the pipes lead into or from the pressure in case of a calm,-the water can flow back ff'rom the elevated reservoir into the pres- `equalizing tank at the bottom thereof, there i is always a regular pressure upon the water Vdelivered to the ,water wheel by reason of the compressed air pressure' in the equalizing tank, thereby producing a steady and uniform flowfof water to the water wheel.

While I have 'shown an apparatus designed for utilizing thewave power by means `'of pumps for pumping water, in stead of using water the pumps may be air compressorswand the air may be delivered into suitable storage tanks for future use. In the drawings I have illustrated in full only one side of a one power unit, but it will b e understood that there may be another set of 'pumps connected up like those shown `and that there may be as many units as may be required to produce the desired power.

Having described my invention what I claim is:

1. A wave motor comprising a wharf structure; a de endent power lever hanger mounted on said) wharf structure and adapted to oscillate; a power lever pivotally mounted in said hanger and adapted to oscillate in said hanger transversely to the plane of oscillation of said hanger; an impact member mounted on said power lever; and means to utilize the motion of said power lever. n

2. A1 wave motor comprising a wharf structure; a depending power lever secured thereto by a. universal joint; a wave imact member slidably mounted upon said ever; power transmitting means mounted .upon said ,wharf structure; a connection T Afrom said power'transmitting means'to said lever; means to .lock said connecting means' tosaid lever during a tionofl the stroke thereo and to unlock the redetermined por- 'same from said lever after the predeternrined portion of the stroke has been 1' reached. -v

vwmotor comprisingr a wharf structure; a dependent power lever hanger revolubly' mounted` on said wharf .structure nd adaptedto oscillate; a power lever pivtally mounted in said hanger and ada ted t" oseillatetherein'transversely to-xthe p ane o oscillation of said hangen" an impact Il nember` mounted upon the bottom mof said `day yof Apgust; 1909.

power lever; power transmitting means connected to said power lever hanger; and

other power transmitting means connected to the top of said power lever. I

4. A wavel motor comprising a wharf structure; a depending power lever secured thereto by a universal joint; an impact member mounted upon said power lever; pumps mounted upon said wharf structure;

an equalizmg tank; means operable by wave action connected to said pumps and adapted to operate the same; a connection from said pumps to said equalizinr tank; an elevated reservoir; a connection 'rom said reservoir to thebottom of said equalizing tank; a water wheel; and means leading from the bottom of said equalizing tank' to deliver the said water from said tank to said water wheel.

5. A wave motor comprising a wharf structure; a depending power lever mounted on said wharf structure by a universal joint; a buoyant impact member having a plurality of vertical wings slidably mounted upon said lever; and means to utilize th'e` oscillation of said lever.

6. A wave motor comprising a wharf structure; a depending power lever mounted on said wharf by a universal joint; a buoyant impact member having a'plurality of vertical win s slidably and revolubly mounted upon sai( lever; and means to utilize the oscillation of said lever.

7. A wave motor comprising a wharf structure; a de endent power lever hanger mounted on sai wharf structure and adapted to oscillate; ya power lever pivotally mounted in said hanger and adapted to oscillate therein transversely to the plane of said hanger; an impact member hav'in-a plurality of wings revolublyand slida ly mounted upon said member; power trans-Y cured to the bottom of the power lever and 110 adapted kto prevent the float from coming olf the owerleve'r. i

In witness that'I claim theforegoinig' have hereunto subscribed my name this 30th- NATHANIEL" o.y HARMoN.

1 Witnesses: y y

" G. E. HAR'PHAM,

StB. AUSTIN; 'f 

